GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – Two unique non-conference events in November, premier home contests against Wisconsin and Virginia, and a full slate of Horizon League contests highlight the 2013-14 Green Bay men’s basketball schedule released by head coach Brian Wardle on Tuesday morning.

Green Bay will play on its home court at the Resch Center 14 times in regular season play, and Wardle and the Phoenix will look to build on its 33-9 home record over the past three seasons. The home schedule will be both challenging and exciting, as nine of the 14 teams coming to the Resch Center participated in a postseason tournament in 2012-13.

“We are extremely excited about our schedule in 2013-14,” said Wardle. “Our program played a challenging road schedule in the first few seasons to bring back quality opponents to the Resch Center, and we will again see the dividends this season with an entertaining home schedule.”

With numerous new options for Phoenix fans, season ticket packages and mini plans are currently on sale with the Green Bay Phoenix Ticket Office. Individual game tickets for the Wisconsin and Virginia games will go on sale at the Phoenix Men’s Basketball Kickoff Party at the Resch Center on Saturday, Oct. 12. Single-game tickets for all contests can be purchased beginning on Monday, Oct. 14.

The Phoenix will welcome Wisconsin to Green Bay for its regular season home opener on Saturday, November 16 at 7 p.m. It will be the Badgers’ fourth visit to Green Bay overall and the third since the opening of the Resch Center in 2002-03. In Wisconsin’s last visit, the Phoenix posted an 88-84 overtime victory over the Badgers.

Wisconsin posted a 23-12 overall record and 12-6 in Big Ten play in 2012-13 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The Badgers return seven of their top nine leading scorers, including senior Ben Brust (11.1).

Green Bay’s first home game in December is among the most anticipated contests in Resch Center history. Phoenix Hall of Famer and all-time leading scorer Tony Bennett returns to Green Bay as the head coach of Virginia on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 4 p.m.

Bennett scored 2,285 points in his Phoenix career (1988-92) and had 1,015 points through his first two seasons at Green Bay. He is the only player in Phoenix history to score more points through his sophomore season than Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill.), who has 874 career points, including 539 as a sophomore in 2012-13.

Virginia went to 22-10 overall and 11-7 in Atlantic Coast Conference play a season ago, and the Cavaliers return the top-five scorers from its 2012-13 team. Senior Joe Harris averaged 16.3 points per game as a junior and was named first-team All-ACC.

The regular season kicks off with the previously announced HBCU Tip-Off Championship in Atlanta, where Green Bay will play against Arkansas Pine-Bluff (Nov. 8) and Texas Southern (Nov. 10).

After hosting Wisconsin and Minnesota-Duluth (Nov. 23), Green Bay will head west to participate in the Great Alaska Shootout for the first time since 1995-96. The Phoenix opens the tournament in Anchorage against Pepperdine on Nov. 28 at 8:30 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network.

“Playing in two tournaments in November affords our program the ability to play against quality mid-major opponents on neutral floors,” said Wardle. “We are thankful and excited to have been invited to participate in both events, and we look forward to the competitive atmospheres and experiences on and off the court that these events will provide. We hope that these tournament experiences can help us be better prepared for our conference tournament at the end of the season.”

Green Bay will host Virginia upon returning from Alaska before road contests at Eastern Michigan (Dec. 10) and South Dakota (Dec. 14). The non-conference schedule concludes with a trio of games at home – Tennessee Tech (Dec. 17), Fairfield (Dec. 21) and St. Francis (Dec. 28).

Sixteen of Green Bay’s 17 regular season games during the 2014 portion of the schedule will be Horizon League games, with a road trip at Chicago State (Jan. 7) marking the only exception.

The Phoenix will open the Horizon League schedule at home, inviting both Cleveland State (Jan. 2, 7 p.m.) and Youngstown State (Jan. 4, 7 p.m.) to the Resch Center.

After four-straight games away from home, Green Bay’s next contest at the Resch Center will also be its first Horizon League game against new conference foe Oakland. The Golden Grizzlies will visit Green Bay on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. to start a stretch of five of six games at home.

“The Horizon League will be as competitive top-to-bottom in 2013-14 as it has ever been,” said Wardle. “There are a number of teams that return talented players that will make the league exciting. The addition of Oakland, a perennial contender in the Summit League, only adds to the strength of our league, and we will be excited to welcome the Golden Grizzlies to the Resch Center in January.”